Think about the last time you bought a coffee, a shampoo or a bag of crisps. You probably didn't compare every option. You picked the one that came to mind, or the one you spotted first.
That's how most buying works. People are busy, choices are endless, and the brain takes shortcuts. The brands that win those moments are the ones people remember and recognise without effort.
Being memorable is a commercial goal
It's easy to treat "memorable" as a nice-to-have, something creative teams care about while the business worries about sales. In practice, the two are the same thing.
Marketing research has shown this for years. In How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp argues that brands grow mainly by being easy to think of and easy to find in buying situations. He calls the first part mental availability. The tools that build it are distinctive brand assets: the colours, shapes, characters, sounds and phrases that people link to you and only you.
What makes a brand easy to remember
A clear point of view
Brands that stand for something specific are easier to hold in your head. "Coffee for people who aren't morning people" sticks. "Quality coffee for everyone" slides straight off.
Assets that belong to you
A colour, a typeface, a pattern, a character, a tone of voice. One or two strong, distinctive assets do more than ten generic ones. The test is simple: if you removed your name, would people still know it's you?
Consistency over time
Recognition comes from repetition. Brands often get bored of their own look long before customers have even noticed it. Every redesign that throws away what people already recognise sets you back.
Consistency still leaves plenty of room for new ideas. Keep your signatures fixed, and let the ideas around them change.
A little emotion
People remember how something made them feel. Humour, warmth, nostalgia and surprise all help a brand stick. A small, unexpected detail, like a line on a cup sleeve or a character on a receipt, can be the thing people tell their friends about.
Signs your brand is forgettable
- Customers describe you by category ("the café on the corner") rather than by name.
- Your packaging or feed could belong to a competitor.
- You change your look every year or two.
- Nobody has ever taken a photo of anything you made.
Where to start
- Find your point of view. What do you believe that others in your category don't?
- Choose your signatures. Pick the one or two assets you want people to link to you.
- Use them everywhere. Packaging, signage, social, merch, emails. Every touchpoint is a chance to be recognised.
- Leave them alone. Change the ideas, keep the signatures.
In short
People choose the brands that come to mind and catch the eye. Being memorable puts you in that position. That's why we think every brand decision, from the logo to the merch, should be judged by one question: will people remember this?